Ever Just the Same
by reilaroo
Summary: Belle and Adam are hiding a terrible secret from their son. Who will help Ben when he suffers from a beastly curse?


It is a peaceful time in Auradon. Ben has been king for two years now, and the four teenagers from the Isle of the Lost have settled nicely into their new lives. Ben and Mal ended their relationship after six months, having decided they weren't right for each other. The five teenagers are very good friends, especially Ben and Carlos.

However, the two young men are hiding secret crushes on each other. They're totally oblivious to the other's feelings, although all of their friends know about their crushes. Ben and Carlos are always together: playing with Dude, playing video games, and studying together. Carlos is genius at math and sciences, so he tutors the king in those subjects. Ben has a love of literature and history, which he uses to help the white-haired boy.

For the last several weeks, Ben has been acting strangely. He has become irritable and snippy with his friends, but never Carlos. He also starts growling whenever someone touches Carlos. The white-haired boy doesn't know why Ben is so angry whenever Jay touches his shoulder or Evie gives him a hug. Jay, Evie, and Mal think Ben's behavior is hilarious and refuse to tell their friend why the 18 year old king is acting that way. Also, Chad accidently hit Carlos too hard during a tourney practice, and Ben roared loudly in Chad's face and would have attacked him if Carlos hadn't intervened. He put himself between Ben and Chad and calmed down the king.

Meanwhile, King Adam and Queen Belle have been worrying about their son. They have noticed Ben's increasing anger, and they know the cause of it. They have been keeping a terrible secret from their son. Ben has inherited his father's curse. He was born a beast, but the Fairy Godmother was able to give him a potion that turned him into a normal baby. The potion will stop his transformation into a beast until he meets his true love. It will then gradually lose its effectiveness. Ben's beast side recognizes his mate is nearby and forces him to act out of jealousy, possessiveness, and over-protectiveness.

Adam and Belle summon Ben to the castle. It is time they tell him the truth, so they can deal with the consequences. The king is curious as to why his parents have asked to speak with him.

Adam begins their explanation. "Ben, we have something very important to tell you. It's upsetting, but you have to remain calm."

"I will, Dad. Just tell me."

"You see, when you were born, you inherited my curse. You were a baby beast."

"What? That can't be true!" Ben yells at his parents.

"Honey, calm down. Your father is right. Fairy Godmother made you a potion that changed you into a normal baby," Belle adds, trying to soothe her son, but it isn't working.

Ben stands up and begins pacing around the room. He's furious that his parents lied to him and kept this huge secret. He feels so betrayed. When his father approaches him, the king roars in his face and pushes him back. The anger takes over his body, and he transforms into a beast.

Belle and Adam look at their son with sorrow and regret. They still have to finish explaining the curse to him.

"Ben, listen to me," Adam shouts over Ben's roars. "There is a cure!"

The king looks at his father. "What cure? I'm doomed to be a beast forever."

"The same cure that worked for your father: true love. The good news is you have already met your true love," the queen says. "The potion begins to stop working when you meet them. So, just tell us who it is and we'll summon them to the castle."

Ben is silent. He can't tell them he loves Carlos. There is no way the white-haired teenager can be his true love. Carlos doesn't love him. He also doesn't want Carlos to see him as a beast. He doesn't want to scare him or accidently hurt him.

"I don't have a true love," he tells his parents.

"Yes, you do. Tell us who!" Adam yells at his son. He wants his son to be cured and doesn't know why Ben isn't cooperating.

"No!" Ben roars and begins throwing things around the room. He pushes over the sofa as Adam and Belle hurry out of the room. Adam locks the door, so Ben doesn't escape in his rage. The entire castle echos with roars, growls, and bangs as the king loses himself to his rage and despair.

The king and queen don't know how to help their son. They decide to summon Mal to the castle. They know Ben and Mal are no longer dating but maybe they still love each other. When the purple-haired girl arrives at the castle, she is shocked at the news of Ben's curse. She knows she is not Ben's true love.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesties, but it's not me."

"Do you have any idea about who it could be?" Belle asks desperately.

Mal knows about Ben's crush on Carlos, and Carlos reciprocating his feelings. She doesn't want to betray her friends, but she wants to help Ben. She also wants to help her friends get together; she's tired of their oblivious pining.

"Ben likes Carlos and doesn't realize that Carlos likes him too. They're both too blind to see how the other feels. It's pathetic. They are not subtle at all," Mal smirks.

Belle and Adam look at each other. They knew Ben and Carlos are close but didn't realize they are hiding their true feelings. They thank Mal and send her back to the castle. After summoning Carlos to the castle, they think about their son's true love. They actually like Carlos a lot and couldn't think of a better boyfriend for Ben. The white-haired boy is very intelligent, kind, funny, and sweet. Belle's father, Maurice, is the mentor of the Young Inventors Club at Auradon Prep. He loves Carlos, thinks of him as another grandson. Maurice and Carlos are often working together in Maurice's workshop, inventing new devices. He is always telling Belle and Adam that Carlos is a remarkable young man.

Meanwhile, back in his dorm, Carlos is sitting on his bed, holding his cell phone. He hasn't seen Ben since lunch, and the king hasn't responded to any of his calls or texts. Carlos is worried about his friend; Ben always makes time to talk to him, even when he is busy. Not hearing from him for several hours is very uncharacteristic. There's a knock on the door. He hurries to open it, hoping it's the king. It's Chip, the castle's chauffer.

"Carlos, King Adam and Queen Belle require your presence at the castle immediately."

The white-haired boy turns pale, his freckles dramatically standing out. "Is it Ben? What's wrong?" Carlos starts to panic.

"I do not know the nature of your summons, but it is imperative that you come now," Chip answers.

Carlos grabs his white and black jacket and runs out the door. Chip closes the door and follows him out to the car. The chauffer quickly drives him to the castle. Upon reaching his destination, Carlos opens his door without waiting for Chip and runs inside.

The king and queen hear Carlos running into the castle and intercept him before he can go upstairs to Ben's room. The white-haired boy has been a frequent guest at the castle and knows his way to young king's suite.

"What happened? Where's Ben?" Carlos asks them in a wild panic. He keeps imagining the worst case scenarios.

Belle quickly reassures the teenager. "Ben is here. You can see him in a few minutes. We need to explain things first."

"Is he ok?"

"He will be, but we need your help," Adam replies. "Let's go to the sitting room to discuss it."

Belle and Adam lead Carlos to the sitting room, noticing how upset the boy is. Maybe he is Ben's true love. They look at each other with hope shining in their eyes; maybe their son can be cured.

After sitting down, Carlos looks at them. He just wants to know what's going on and how he can help Ben. He's too impatient to be polite to the royals. "Tell me."

Adam starts explaining, "Ben has inherited my beast curse. He was born with it; he was actually a baby beast. Fairy Godmother made him a potion that transformed him into a normal baby. Now, the potion has stopped working."

Carlos is stunned. "Wait, so Ben is a beast right now? Where is he?"

"He's in his room. He's very angry and confused right now," Belle says as she watches Carlos' dark brown eyes narrow in rage.

"You left him alone? He needs your help, and you left him all alone." Carlos stands up and walks out the room. If Ben's parents won't help him, then he definitely will. He won't let Ben go through this alone. As he gets closer to the king's suite, he hears loud bangs and roars. He walks faster; Belle and Adam rush to keep up with him.

He goes to open the door but finds it locked. He just looks at the king and queen, one eyebrow raised in question. Adam explains it was for Ben's own protection.

"You know Ben would never want to hurt anybody. He's in a blind rage right now. He would feel terrible if he hurt somebody when he wasn't thinking clearly."

Carlos nods in agreement. "I know but open the door. Ben will never hurt me."

They look at the teenager and see his complete trust in their son. They truly couldn't have chosen a better person for their son's true love. Adam pulls the key out of his pocket and unlocks the door.

Inside the destroyed room, Ben turns around as he hears the door being opened. He roars in outrage at his parents. He yells at them to get out and throws a vase at them. He doesn't see Carlos standing behind them.

Carlos steps around the royals and sees the room for the first time. He is shocked. All the furniture in the room has been overturned. There is broken glass all over the floor. Then, he looks at the brunette boy. Ben has grown several inches taller, which irritates Carlos because he finally hit a growth spurt after his 16th birthday. He's now 5'10," only a few inches shorter than Ben's 6'1" stature. Now their height difference is back. Also, the king now has golden-brown fur all over his body and small horns adorn the top of his head. His blue pants are ripped around the knees and his white shirt hangs in tatters around his broad shoulders. However, Ben's eyes are still the same beautiful shade of green they have always been.

Ben suddenly sees Carlos and rumbles his name in surprise. He never thought his parents would figure out who he loves. He doesn't want to put the white-haired boy in this dangerous position. He doesn't want to accidently hurt the boy he loves more than anything.

Carlos locks his dark chocolate brown eyes on the king's green eyes and calmly walks towards him. He wraps his arms around Ben's furry waist and rests his head on his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat. Ben is very surprised by the teenager's lack of fear. He quickly puts his arms around Carlos and holds on tightly. Now that he has his true love in his arms, he is never going to let him go. He vows that nobody will ever take Carlos away from him. His beast side roars in approval, happy to finally have his mate within reach.

Over Carlos' shoulder, the king sees his stunned parents still in the doorway. He glares at them until they leave, softly pulling the door shut. They stayed in case Ben was still in a rage but were in awe at the way Carlos calmed him down. They see now that their son will never hurt the younger boy. Carlos is Ben's true love and only hope to reverse the curse.

Inside the room, the two boys continue hugging. They feel happy and safe in each other's arms. After several quiet minutes, Carlos reluctantly takes a step back. He has a lot of questions. He is still very worried about Ben and wants to know how he can help. Reaching up to cup the older boy's cheek, he asks, "Are you ok?"

Ben nuzzles into his hand and purrs happily. Then he sighs and leads Carlos over to the overturned sofa. He sets it back upright and gestures for the other boy to sit down. After Carlos sits down beside him, Ben grabs his hand. He wants to reassure him that he is alright, and he also wants the comfort for himself.

"I feel much better now that you're here, so thank you for coming. What did my parents tell you?" Ben asks. He wants to know if Carlos knows the part about true love being the cure.

"Your father said you inherited his curse as a baby and that Fairy Godmother made you a potion to reverse the transformation. That's it. I came up here as soon as I heard you were a beast and they left you alone to deal with it. They should have stayed with you," Carlos says with a growl, still angry at Ben's parents.

"I'm afraid that's only a small part of it. My parents hid this from me. They never told me about the curse. They also never told me that the potion would lose its efficiency. I just feel so hurt over their betrayal."

Carlos squeezes his hand. "They should have told you the truth. They had no right to keep this from you."

Ben is relieved that Carlos understands and supports him. Now he has to tell him why the potion failed and how he can be cured. "There's a reason the potion started to fail. As soon as I met my true love, the potion started to lose potency because my beast side recognized my true love and wanted to claim him as my mate. It was a gradual process. Over the last two years, I've become more angry and jealous. The longer I denied my true feelings, the more I lost control over my beast side. Finally, today when my parents told me the truth, that's when I totally lost control and turned into a beast. I was just so angry and hurt."

Carlos is instantly jealous of Ben's true love. He knows he never really had a chance of being with Ben, but he had this desperate, longing hope. Now it's been broken because the king is talking about meeting his true love. He wants Ben to be happy, but he can't bear to think of him loving someone else. He keeps quiet and just looks at the king with wide, hurt brown eyes.

Ben can't tell what Carlos is thinking, so he keeps talking. "The good news is that there's a cure. My true love can reverse the spell and return me to my human self. Just like my mother did for my father."

Taking a deep breath, Carlos nods. "Ok. Tell me who it is, and I can go get him for you. I want to help you any way that I can.

The king is shocked that Carlos doesn't know that he is the only one that can help him. He isn't surprised by the white-haired boy's low self-confidence. He knows about Carlos' insecurities. He looks at him with fondness, "Haven't you figured it out yet? I thought you were a genius."

Carlos glares at him. He wonders why the king and queen sent for him to help Ben. He starts to remember the last few weeks when Ben was so angry at their friends but was never mad at him. He remembers the king growling at Jay when he touched his shoulder and how he would then place his hand on his shoulder as if to replace Jay's touch with his own. He was always touching Carlos in some way and glaring at anybody who came to close to him. Lastly, he thinks of today when Ben calmed down in presence although he was in a beastly rage. He can still feel how tightly the older boy held on to him. With hope shining in his eyes, Carlos looks up at Ben.

The king is smiling at him, patiently waiting for the younger boy to put it all together. Carlos has a small, shy smile on his face. "It's me, isn't it?"

Ben chuckles. "Yes, Carlos. I love you. You are my one true love."

Carlos stares at him in amazement. He never dreamed he'd hear Ben proclaiming his love for him. He finds it hard to believe that somebody as wonderful as Ben would ever love a useless nobody like him. "Really?"

Ben quickly reassures him. He hates Cruella for emotionally abusing Carlos and encouraging his self-doubts and insecurities. "Really, Carlos. You are such an amazing man. I'm so in love with you, it's ridiculous," he says with a smirk.

Throwing his head back, Carlos loudly laughs at Ben's reference to his song to Mal while under the influence of the love spell. The king stares at the white-haired boy. He is beautiful when he laughs, and he loves hearing that sound. He wants to make Carlos laugh every single day.

Carlos hits his arm. "You know I'm going to expect my own song now, right?"

"I'll sing a hundred songs about my love for you," Ben says with complete sincerity. Whatever Carlos wants, Ben will give it to him. He deserves nothing but the best.

The younger boy knows that Ben is serious. He sees nothing but love shining in those beautiful green eyes. He closes his own brown eyes. He's nervous but Ben deserves to know the truth. Carlos wants to finally confess his own feelings. Opening his eyes, he proudly says, "I love you, Ben."

Ben is flabbergasted. He didn't expect Carlos to reciprocate his feelings. He sees the truth and love glowing in those big, brown eyes. He lets out a roar of joy and jumps off the sofa, pulling Carlos into a giant bear hug. He lifts him off the ground and spins him around. Carlos laughs and holds on tight.

Suddenly, a bright, white light surrounds the two teenagers. They close their eyes to block out the light. When they open their eyes, they see that Ben is back to normal. He is no longer a beast. True love has broken the curse.

Ben and Carlos smile widely, still wrapped up in each other's arms. They keep their eyes locked on each other's as Ben leans down and Carlos tilts his head up. They meet half-way as their lips touch for their first kiss. The kiss is full of joy, passion, and love.

As their mouths break apart, the two boys softly laugh. They are so happy; they feel as though they are dreaming. Ben whispers, "I love you."

Carlos can't stop smiling. As he goes to kiss Ben again, he whispers against his lips, "I love you too."

They share soft, gentle kisses for a few more minutes. Ben reluctantly backs away. "I guess we should go tell my parents that I'm ok and that the curse is broken."

With a devilish smirk on his lips, Carlos says, "Let them wait." He pulls Ben into another kiss, making it deeper and longer. Ben happily surrenders to the kiss, his parents already forgotten.


End file.
